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Whenever the end of the regular season arrives, some teams start preparing for the playoffs, while others start their NFL Draft prep. One aspect of the next season which is on all teams’ minds, at one point or another, are pending free agents.
https://www.behindthesteelcurtain.co...-nfl-afc-north
My first thought: a whole lot of restricted free agents, which gives us at least one more season with them (unless they sign elsewhere... and, then we’d get a draft pick for them). We are in GREAT shape.
Tag: Bell
Re-sign: Boswell, Hilton, Nix, Chickillo, Finney, Canady, Feiler (all RFAs)
Hubbard is gone (alas). The rest are replaceable.
We need linebackers to replace Shazier (assuming he isn't coming back at this point) and that can stop the run. We also could use another CB.
If Ben comes back (to defend our title) I like our offense as is.
I agree. But the dreaded "restructure" word is going to start showing up a ton in the off-season. While I don't think the cap situation is so dire that it will totally hamstring the FO in the offseason, the team is tight against the 2018 cap already with a TON of maneuvers still needing to be made. That likely means restructures for Heyward, AB, Tuitt, and DeCastro. Additionally, the bottom 1/3 of the roster is going to be let go. Guys like Hunter, DHB, and Moats are almost assuredly gone as well as almost all the safeties! It is gonna be wild to watch play out.Originally Posted by teegre
I agree, but maybe they can get a deal done with Bell without the tag. Also Finney, Feiler, Hilton, Canady are all exclusive rights FA according to that article, so they can be tendered and kept with just the tender offer. I also would like the Steelers to try and keep Eli Rogers, as he adds depth to the WR group as we saw when JuJu, Bryant and now AB were inactive for various reasons.
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Bingo, Rogers took a beating for some of his screw ups, but has proved to be a very good WR, I'd definitely keep him.
luckily it doesnt look like a splash signing is all that necessary. I hope we try to shore up at least one of the positions (with a starter) before the draft though: ILB, S, TE. ILB looks like the best spot to plug the hole, theres a ton of options out there, varying in all capacities.
ILB candidates: Kevin Minter, Navorro Bowman, Zach Brown, Demario Davis. Karlos Dansby (does he ever age? should be a willing 1 year stopgap at his age), Korey Toomer (read good things about him from Chargers forums, seems under the radar relative to a deep ILB free agent group. Would be my pick as a good starter within a medium/medium low range pricetag)
S candidates: Morgan Burnett (Underrated safety, i think my fellow Wisconsin natives can back me up on that one), Reggie Nelson (Age and playing on a horrid defense could bring his pricetag down. Would be a great stopgap), TJ Ward (playing on a forgettable team and a little drama with being miffed about being booted from the Broncos could bring his pricetag down. He is a former pro bowler after all), Eric Reid (Another former pro bowler as a rookie. Really smart, with desirable physicality if were worried about losing that with Mitchell. Played linebacker in subpackages for the 49ers so it could kill 2 birds with 1 stone for us in some capacity. I think i brought him up a while back as a realistic option), Tre Boston (1 hit wonder/Product of a really underrated front 7? Or is he a young kid on the up?), Lamarcus Joyner (If we wanted to go balls to the balls in free agency like last season for Ben's ride into the sunset, you go right here. Played CB/S in college and played CB for 3 seasons before blossoming as a safety this season. Never going to happen. Free agent blue balls, brought to you by, me)
TE candidates: Jimmy Graham (Anyone want to have another go at an expensive, talented, and injury prone tight end), Tyler Eifert (How many times do you want your heart broken by a talented but injury prone tight end)
I will back you on Burnett and Eric Reid. I solid "maybe" on Boston (although the Steelers seem to like him) and a "heck yeah if money grew on trees!" on Joyner.luckily it doesnt look like a splash signing is all that necessary. I hope we try to shore up at least one of the positions (with a starter) before the draft though: ILB, S, TE. ILB looks like the best spot to plug the hole, theres a ton of options out there, varying in all capacities.
ILB candidates: Kevin Minter, Navorro Bowman, Zach Brown, Demario Davis. Karlos Dansby (does he ever age? should be a willing 1 year stopgap at his age), Korey Toomer (read good things about him from Chargers forums, seems under the radar relative to a deep ILB free agent group. Would be my pick as a good starter within a medium/medium low range pricetag)
S candidates: Morgan Burnett (Underrated safety, i think my fellow Wisconsin natives can back me up on that one), Reggie Nelson (Age and playing on a horrid defense could bring his pricetag down. Would be a great stopgap), TJ Ward (playing on a forgettable team and a little drama with being miffed about being booted from the Broncos could bring his pricetag down. He is a former pro bowler after all), Eric Reid (Another former pro bowler as a rookie. Really smart, with desirable physicality if were worried about losing that with Mitchell. Played linebacker in subpackages for the 49ers so it could kill 2 birds with 1 stone for us in some capacity. I think i brought him up a while back as a realistic option), Tre Boston (1 hit wonder/Product of a really underrated front 7? Or is he a young kid on the up?), Lamarcus Joyner (If we wanted to go balls to the balls in free agency like last season for Ben's ride into the sunset, you go right here. Played CB/S in college and played CB for 3 seasons before blossoming as a safety this season. Never going to happen. Free agent blue balls, brought to you by, me)
TE candidates: Jimmy Graham (Anyone want to have another go at an expensive, talented, and injury prone tight end
For the ILB - all I got is a Mr. Yuck face. Steelers already have their "thumper" ILB in VW. They need an athletic playmaker who can go 3 downs. That's a draft pick plain and simple.
For TE - what about some cap magic and Vance McDonald returns? I think IF he could stay healthy he would be a really nice fit as the starting TE.
For ILB, we can fill that spot in the draft with Josey Jewell. That kid is the TJ Watt of inside linebackers. Plus, he can flip to OLB if need be. Currently projected to be a 2-3 round pick, but I'd pull the trigger in the first round.
I really hope the others are right about our ability to keep Lev Bell. I'm afraid this may be his last season in the black 'n gold.
For TE, I think we can get by okay without the x-man if need be.
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For ILB, we can fill that spot in the draft with Josey Jewell. That kid is the TJ Watt of inside linebackers. Plus, he can flip to OLB if need be. Currently projected to be a 2-3 round pick, but I'd pull the trigger in the first round.
I really hope the others are right about our ability to keep Lev Bell. I'm afraid this may be his last season in the black 'n gold.
For TE, I think we can get by okay without the x-man if need be.
"You've heard people brag about 'being in the zone'. They don't know what the Hell being in the zone is about. I played in the NFL for 15 years and I was only in the zone that one time." - "Mean" Joe Greene on the 1974 playoff victory over Oakland
Seems to me that a ton of rookie ILB's thrive as plug and play material. The safety market looks deep and the tight end market looks awful. Sounds logical to fill the hole at safety in free agency, and sit and wait for draft day for your ILB and TE.
I think Mcdonald is worthy of consideration for keeping if we can bring his $4.3 million salary cap hit down.
Oh yeah, and a sneaky utilitarian move for the offseason: Move William Gay to safety.
Wilcox is going to be gone, Mitchell is going to be gone if were smart, and depth will be thin. Gay isnt going to make this team next season as a cornerback. Haden, Burns, Hilton will be starters. Sutton will supplant anyone as the dime CB, who knows even take Burns' spot as a starter. Allen or a draft pick as a high upside developmental project/special teams player. Theres no longer a reason to keep an old declining DB on the roster with a $2.4 million cap hit when he isnt even going to be among the first 4 cornerbacks in the game. Unless said DB converts to an area (S) that were thin at. Gay is cerebral, a strong tackler, and knows how to play every DB spot in this defense. Communication will be synced up should we end up having to have him in there
I really like Gay and think he has greatly assisted the development of the secondary this year and do not look forward to him moving off the roster. All that being said - he doesn't fit anymore at CB for the reasons that PsychoWard86 clearly laid out. I also do not think that you take a 34 year old player and make him one of the smallest and potentially slowest safeties in the league. Best situation for Gay is to offer him a spot as a coach if he isn't good enough to make the 53 man roster.
How's this for a radical move ... If we're fed up with Gilbert (not saying we are, but who knows how these things turn out with suspensions, up-and-coming players, etc.), releasing him is a $4M cap savings. Depending on what kind of deal we get done with Bell, maybe we do have enough room to keep Hubbard after all if we decide he's the future. Otherwise, though ... alas.
Beyond him and Bell, the rest are pretty open-and-shut cases; everyone worth keeping is an RFA of some kind. I could see us letting Rogers go if we take a WR as a potential Bryant replacement and want to get a look at him.
Oh yeah, and if we get Timmons back for a reasonable price (one can always dream), that could be the one "big" FA move and take some urgency off at ILB.
See you Space Cowboy ...
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I think Bell comes down to earth a little and signs the same type deal he turned down this year. He knows the clock is ticking and another year of being tagged will leave him with 6 years of tread off his tires. Nobody is paying $15 for that.
Do we want him as a starting safety? Hell no. Could he be a backup safety? That might be OK. Not for a lot of money, though.
See you Space Cowboy ...
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https://www.thephinsider.com/2017/9/...-to-suspension
What does Timmons have left. Did anybody watch Dolphins games this year?
Steelreserve,Oh yeah, and if we get Timmons back for a reasonable price (one can always dream), that could be the one "big" FA move and take some urgency off at ILB.
Lawrence Timmons' big weapon was always his speed, but I'm afraid he's lost a step since then. He was great in the old LeBeau scheme, but I don't think he's a good fit now.
Could be wrong and often am,
-Slashy
"You've heard people brag about 'being in the zone'. They don't know what the Hell being in the zone is about. I played in the NFL for 15 years and I was only in the zone that one time." - "Mean" Joe Greene on the 1974 playoff victory over Oakland
Wow, if thats not divine intervention i dont know what is.
If Timmons is at least as good as he was at the tail end of his Steelers career im pretty warm to the idea
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I only saw a few, but he looked good and the fans really liked him.
If he hasn't lost as much of a step as Spence, that's an improvement over now.
I don't think he's the long-term answer, but as a stopgap for a year, or a guy who can keep the spot warm until a draft pick can take the training wheels off, or a guy who can step in if there's an injury, he might fit the bill for all three of those.
I do think that you're right, long-term we want a guy who can pair speed and athleticism with Williams' game, which is more fundamentals and hard-hitting strength.
See you Space Cowboy ...
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Would Timmons fall asleep and snore during Olsalvsky's meetings?
True.
I always found it odd to call them free agents, when basically they can’t go anywhere.
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I get your point, but Gilbert is our best O-lineman (which truly is a feat, considering Pouncey & DeCastro are no dlouchs).
I wouldn't make this kind of change during the season/playoffs, but honestly I would draft an OLB to compete with Chickillo, and move Dupree inside. He'd be solid there.
Well though ... One more fuck-up and he's done for a full year, I believe. He's a good player, no doubt, and we clearly intended for him to be here a while, so I wouldn't give it more than a 10% chance he's not in Pittsburgh best season. But you just never know.
IMO the real most important free agent is Munchak - he stays and we could probably make it work with or without any one guy. He leaves, we could have all the same players and within a year be back to mediocre as a unit.
See you Space Cowboy ...
What makes you believe Dupree will be good inside
The suspension thing is indeed scary, but “we can’t live in our fears”.
If Munchak leaves to be a HC, I’d be fine with that. He deserves a shot. Would I prefer that he stayed: absolutely.
That's the recreational drug policy. The PED policy is different: http://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/1...ormone-testing
Gilbert got a 4 game ban even though it was first offense, because apparently that is the policy. Next offense is a 10 game ban. Next one after that is 2 years at a minimum.
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The other thing that everyone has to consider is whether Gilbert is the same player without using PEDs.
I hear so many calling him the teams' best lineman. He wasn't that for quite a while. It's possible that is what got him to a different level.
Maybe Hubbard is the cheaper option. Maybe Hubbard is the better option that allows them to re-sign many players that they would love to keep.
There is much to consider.
I have no idea with the PED stuff. Who knows? Maybe he is taking something that makes him a strong as the Hulk and as quick to recover as Wolverine. Maybe it really was an "accidental" mix-up. We will never know.
But we can address the cap stuff. Going rate for a non-top of the line and non-rookie deal RT is about $6 million per year. This is roughly what the Steelers are paying Gilbert. If you cut him he gives a dead cap of $3.4 million and $3.9 comes off the cap. So now you have to sign your "new" starting RT in Hubbard. Even if he only takes $4 million per year (a 100+% raise for him), that starting RT now costs you $4 million + $3.4 million - more than simply hanging onto Gilbert (the perceived better player), letting Hubbard walk, and elevating Hawkins to that swing tackle role.
Maybe their is wacky cap stuff about spreading things out and % guaranteed and all of that kinda stuff that makes Hubbard cheaper, but a quick simple math approach makes it look (at least to me) that he would be more expensive.
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I hear what you're saying. My only point was not to minimize the player that Gilbert has been, but to point out that we really don't know how long he has been using PEDs. There was a time not too long ago when Gilbert was a bit of a punchline and was more well known for injuring teammates than for his play. It's just something to think about. If Gilbert continues to play at a high level, his contract is a bargain.
That was my only point. I guess we'll find out when he returns.
IMO, Gilbert has been the Steelers best O lineman the past 2 seasons. He has gotten technically sound and there was always discussions early that he was athletic enough to play LT, but never really handled that side. He is probably one of the top 6 RT's in football, so I am good to ride with him. If he gets suspended again, which I don't know why he would, I am sure there is some provision in the CBA for cap relief from suspended players.
Hubbard is kind of a more athletic Willie Colon. Undersized as an OT, but can play it if needed. He should get an offer somewhere to play at Guard, so next man up. That in my opinion is Finney and Feiler. Feiler has the size to play OT, but he shows the ability to maul people in line as an OG. He pulled from LG in the preseason and just flat out blew up a defender in the Rt side A gap and drove him 7 yards downfield.
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